The religious rite for Ole Preben Wissing, the Commercial Director and DTCC representative of EAC who diagnosed with leukemia and passed away peacefully on January 4 in Copenhagen, was held at Sala no.3 of the Hualumpong temple in Bangkok on January 9, 2007.
The Thai style memorial service was held to provide an opportunity for EAC’s staff and close friends of Ole to pay their respect and say properly goodbye to him. App. 60 persons attended this service.
The participants included many former EAC employees and practically all board members of EAC’s associated companies present in Thailand. The CEO of the EAC Group, Niels Henrik Jensen and his wife Lisbeth were there as well as both the present and the former Chairman of The Danish-Thai Chamber of Commerce, Leo Alexandersen and Tom Sorensen, respectively.
The 45-minute memorial service, set up with a large photo of the deceased and wreaths of flowers next to the Buddha image, proceeded with serenity and chanting of 4 buddhist monks . The simple ceremony followed Thai traditional lines and later offering of food to the monks by Ole’s close friends and colleagues. It ended with pouring of water slowly onto a vessel to ensure that Ole’s soul would benefit from the merit making.
Jan Dam Pedersen, Managing Director of EAC Thailand and a close friend and colleague of Ole for many years, gave a commemorative speech covering many of the thoughts and feelings towards his far too early demise at the age of only 64.
“Ole had a remarkable and distinguished career in EAC for more than 48 years,” Jan said and continued “he was a man well liked by everyone and I can only think of very few people who were so universally respected as Ole both for his professional and human qualities,”
“His shadow will continue to be present in our business in Thailand for many years to come and his personal character will continue to be a guiding light and benchmark for us in the future. All his friends will remember him with fondness and gratitude. Thank you, Ole – and rest in peace…”
